歪歪漫画

FARGO 鈥� Relatives of a serviceman who died as a prisoner of war in World War II finally have the answer they鈥檝e waited so long to receive.

Skeletal remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Irvin C. Ellingson have been identified through new DNA technology at a forensic lab in Hawaii, 80 years after his death.

Lon Enerson, one of Ellingson鈥檚 nephews,

鈥淲e are overjoyed and relieved 鈥� It's a long-overdue answered prayer,鈥� Enerson told The Forum, from his home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

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Ellingson, who grew up in Dahlen, North Dakota, enlisted at age 22 and was 25 when he died, Enerson said.

He was serving as a radar observer on a bombing mission to Tokyo on April 14, 1945, when the plane was shot down.

Ellingson parachuted to safety but was captured by the Japanese army and held captive at a Japanese prison along with 61 other American service members.

The prison caught fire a little over a month later, on May 26, 1945, after high winds fueled fires that were started by an American B-29 bombing raid over Tokyo.

None of the American prisoners survived the fire, as they were blocked in by Japanese guards, Enerson said.

The remains of more than two dozen American service members were identified in the aftermath but those of 37 others were buried as 鈥渦nknowns鈥� at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, where they sat untouched until 2022.

Contributed / Ryan Earp

The remains are commingled, and the Department of Defense has a threshold for disinterment, of those veterans鈥� families to provide DNA samples in order to make matches.

Families pushed the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to disinter those unidentified remains and bring them to a forensic lab in Honolulu, where the newest DNA technology to identify them.

Enerson said his uncle is the third serviceman from the Tokyo prison fire to be identified in this manner. The first identification came in September 2024 and the second in January of this year.

Ellingson鈥檚 parents and all of his siblings are deceased, so the next of kin is the oldest nephew or niece, who is Cheryl Severtson, of San Diego.

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Enerson is fourth on that list.

Six groups of Ellingson鈥檚 relatives have visited the forensic lab in Hawaii since 2022, awaiting his identification, Enerson said.

Now that they have answers, some family members may return to the lab to sit privately with Ellingson鈥檚 remains, which will be placed on an army blanket, he said.

The family intends to bury Ellingson鈥檚 remains in the Middle Forest River Cemetery in rural Dahlen, alongside his parents and other siblings.

Contributed / Lon Enerson

Enerson said when that day comes, he鈥檚 been told Ellingson will be buried with full military honors, at government expense.

鈥淲e just wish his immediate family could have known 80 years ago, but this is the next best time,鈥� Enerson said.